Scotland opens doors to more Syrian refugees than any other UK region
The data, which was published on Friday by the Home Office, exposes a sharp imbalance in local authorities’ acceptance rates of refugees across the country.
The figures reveal a total of 1,602 people have been housed under Downing Street’s Vulnerable Person Resettlement scheme (VPR) to date.
Information Commissioner's Office instructs Home Office to provide Syrian refugee data https://t.co/yxK1Crwpx9 via @UKParliament
— APPG on Refugees (@APPGRefugees) May 27, 2016
Scottish authorities resettled 610 refugees, housing 68 in Renfrewshire and 53 in Edinburgh. Coventry, in the English West Midlands, was the most welcoming council, resettling a total of 105 Syrians within six months.
Of London’s 33 boroughs, just Islington, Barnet, Camden and Kingston-upon-Thames took in refugees. No local authorities in north-west England – including 10 spread across Greater Manchester – accepted any.
Some 171 refugees, meanwhile, were accepted by local authorities in Humberside and Yorkshire.
This is why we must rescue child #refugees: Leaked accounts of kids raped at Turkish refugee camp: https://t.co/P0gtRzxONz#Syria
— Devutopia (@D_Raval) May 21, 2016
Welsh councils accepted 78, while Northern Ireland accepted a further 51.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Home Secretary Theresa May’s constituency, failed to accept a single Syrian refugee.
Likewise, Watford Borough Council, where the Home Office minister responsible for resettling refugees, Richard Harrington, is based, had a zero acceptance rate.
